Financial support is requested for the 4th Biennial International Eosinophil Symposium, scheduled for May 25-29, 2005 at University Hospital, Bern, Switzerland, and the 5th Biennial Symposium in 2007. These biennial conferences are held under the auspices of the International Eosinophil Society (IES). The 2005 meeting will host 41 invited plenary speakers and an additional -120 participants who are solicited to submit abstracts for selection for "Cutting Edge" oral presentation and poster sessions by young scientists. The conference begins with a reception/orientation on Wed., May 25 and finishes on Sun., May 29. A cutting edge program of basic, translational, and clinical research has been prepared by the Local Organizing Committee in consultation with the International Advisory Committee, and the Executive Committee of the IES. The Symposium provides outstanding opportunities for oral and poster presentations by junior investigators, and plenary sessions on the most recent advances in this biomedically important, diverse and interdisciplinary field. The Symposium features invited talks by leaders in eosinophil research and allied fields from the perspectives of asthma, allergy, pulmonary, gastrointestinal and parasitic diseases, and includes a new Paul Erlich Lectureship, and Keynote Addresses on future directions in eosinophil research. The focus is on both basic aspects of eosinophil cellular, molecular and immunobiology, integrated with translational and clinical investigations of the roles of eosinophils in normal physiology and disease pathogenesis. Sessions on eosinophilic GI diseases, eosinophils in tissue remodeling and fibrosis, new pathogenic aspects of hypereosinophilic syndromes, and anti-eosinophil treatment strategies have been added this year, including discussions on applications of knowledge of eosinophil biology to drug discovery for eosinophil-associated diseases. The Symposium is a highly interactive, workshop-like, forum for both oral and poster presentations of cutting edge abstracts by younger scientists, particularly graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and junior faculty. Afternoons are purposefully unscheduled to allow opportunities for scientific discussions, and social/recreational activities in and around the conference venue. The 4"' Symposium covers major themes on: (1) Regulation of Eosinophil Development, Functional Maturation (Activation and Inhibition), and Death, (2) Animal Models of Eosinophil Diseases, (3) Roles of Eosinophils in Gastrointestinal Diseases, (4) Eosinophils in Innate Immunity, (5) Eosinophil Regulation of Th2 Immune Responses, (6) Hosinophiis in Tissue Remodeling and Fibrosis, (7) New Pathogenic Aspects of Hypereosinophilic Syndromes, and (8) Anti-eosinophil Treatment Strategics. The central goal of this conference is to provide a highly interactive forum for scientific exchange and collaboration amongst junior and senior scientists in the fields of allergy, immunology, hematology, and cancer as relates to the biology and functions of the eosinophil in normal host physiology in health and pathophysiology in disease.